The Replacements
by LittleBlueStrawberry
Summary: Adopted by SycoandCrazy.Inc
1. Prolouge

Hello one and all! I am LittleBlueStrawberry, and this is my first fic. So I would appreciate reviews, and constructive critisism is welcome. I hope you all enjoy the first instalment of The Replacements.

And no, I don't own anything but the plot and my original characters.

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**_Prolouge_**

Yusuke ran a hand through his black hair. He needed a haircut he noticed absently. Maybe he'd ask Keiko to give him one. He looked at Koenma who sat at his desk in his teen form. Koenma looked serious. Well, that was good, Yusuke supposed. The guys were certainly serious about this.

"So," Koenma said. "You four want to quit being Spirit Detectives?"

"Basically," Yusuke said. "We've been doing this for years Koenma. The whole save the world thing gets old after a while. We've all got dreams, things we want to do with our lives. Spirit World is getting in the way of that."

"And what am I supposed to do the next time the safety of the three worlds is threatened?" asked Koenma.

"Find someone else," Kurama replied. "I don't believe you are so shortsighted that you never saw this day coming. I'm certain you already have replacements waiting."

Koenma leaned back and stared at the four teens. No, that was the wrong word. They were men now. Full grown men.

"Your right, I have expected this day to come. To be honest you four stayed longer than I thought you would. Very well then. I can't in good conscience keep you four here. This is the last you'll see of me. At least until you die. So good bye then."

"Bye Koenma and good luck."

Koenma snorted as he turned to his papers. "Don't say that. Luck doesn't like me."

Koenma continued to stare at his papers long after the door had closed. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he had become attached to those four. He was going to miss them.

"Sir?"

Koenma looked up to see Botan standing in front of his desk with a worried frown. "Yes Botan?"

"What do we do now Sir? You had another mission you needed them to go on."

Koenma was silent a moment. "Get the replacements."

Botan's eyes widened. "But Koenma! They haven't finished training yet!"

"What they know will have to be enough."

Botan nodded reluctantly. "Yes Sir. I'll go get them."

Botan's oar appeared in her hand and she flew off into the sky. As she flew she had to blink back her tears. She was going to miss the guys so much. They were her friends, and now she wouldn't be able to see them. Botan had to admit that a part of her had, foolishly, hoped that they would always remain Spirit Detectives.

Botan shook her thoughts and melancholy away when she saw that she had made it to her first stop. She swooped down in front of a startled teenager who had been about to shoot a bastket ball into the net. Botan had managed to startle the teen so badly that they dropped the ball.

"Geez, Botan, do you have to do that?"

Botan giggled at the expression on the teen's face. This one reminded her greatly of Yusuke. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

The teen ran a hand through their chin length blond hair. "What do you want?"

Botan's mirth died away. "It's time for your first mission, Patches."


	2. The Little Twit

Wow, this was a pretty quick update. Don't expect to many of these. Oh, and if you're trying to figure out the plot, it might take a couple chapters. I'm making the firt coulpe of chapters vague plot wise, or at least I'm trying to, 'cause I want the main gist of the story to be a surprise.

Don't own YYH.

**Important!-**This chapter is starting four years after the prolouge. It'll be slightly confusing if you don't realize that. Also, I know nothing about the relation between the yen and the American dollar, and I'm to lazy to look it up right now, so all references to money will be done with the American dollar.

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The Little Twit

Yusuke walked down the sidewalk quickly mentally berating himself for not grabbing a thicker coat. It was freezing this winter. Even the short walk from his squad car to the coffee shop was almost unbearable it seemed.

He opened the door and felt instant relief at the rush of warm arm. Yusuke stepped inside and, out of habit, immediately scanned the room. Just a couple of teenagers, an elderly couple and a lone business man. Yusuke walked up to the counter where a teenage girl with an overly bright smile stood waiting to take his order.

She'd probably had one cup to many of coffee to look that cheery.

"I'll take a large coffee, black," Yusuke ordered.

"Anything else sir?" she asked as she rang up his order.

"No thanks, that's all I need."

"Okay, that'll be 2.50."

Yusuke handed the girl a five dollar bill. She handed him his change and his coffee. Yusuke thanked her and went out the door and into the winter air. He took a sip of his coffee and started back towards his car.

Yusuke swore as the coffee cup was suddenly knocked out of his hands by a well packed snow ball. Yusuke looked for the culprit, and soon found her, as she was the only one out on the street.

It was a girl about sixteen or seventeen. She was wearing a long sleeved white sweater and a short green skirt, both of which looked expensive. She was wearing only thin white stockings to protect her legs and had strapy heels on her feet. Her hair was red, curly and cut to her shoulders, and she had big eyes the same shade as summer grass, and her face could easily have been a child's.

All in all, not a girl Yusuke would have guessed to be the kind of hooligan to throw stuff at a cop. Or anyone for that matter. She looked more like the kind of girl who would worry about breaking a nail.

"Alright missy, come here."

The girl blinked her green eyes at him. "Mister, I just threw a snowball at you. I'm not going to 'come'."

Yusuke sighed with frustration. "Look, missy, I'm tired and I'm cold, and all I want is a coffee, which you just spilled. Now if you go in the coffee shop and get me another coffee, I'll forget about this. But if you refuse, I'm going to have to take you to the station so we can call your parents."

The little twit actually had the gall to stick her tongue out at Yusuke. "Only if you catch me!"

With that she turned and ran around the corner. Thoroughly annoyed now, Yusuke gave chase. But to his surprise, when he rounded the corner, the street was deserted. Yusuke stopped and looked around. The girl had to be there. There was no way she could run with any amount of speed in heels.

"You can't catch me if you're standing still!"

Yusuke turned to his right to see the little twit standing a good fifty feet away from him at another corner. She was waving at him and grinning as if this was all some sort of game.

She dashed out of sight and Yusuke once more ran after her. When Yusuke rounded the next corner she was once again out of sight. Yusuke swore. This little twit was infuriating.

"Oooooh, you said a bad word!"

Yusuke spotted her standing about twenty feet ahead of him. Yusuke didn't speak, but made a dash for her. The little twit yelped, obviously not having expected that. She tried to run, but Yusuke caught her arm and yanked her back.

"Gotcha."

"No, lemme go, lemme go!" the girl whined.

Yusuke dragged her back down the street. "I don't think so. I'm taking you to the station and calling your parents. I'm sure they'd love to know what you've been up to."

Yusuke shoved the girl into the backseat of the car and then he climbed into the front seat. Within the next ten minutes they were at the station. The whole way the little twit hadn't stopped complaining.

Yusuke turned the car off and got out. Then he pulled the girl out and led her into the police station. "Okay missy, tell me your name and phone number so I can call your parents."

As if by magic, the girl suddenly became silent.

Yusuke looked at her. "Come on now, a minute ago you wouldn't shut up. Your name and number, and then you can go home soon."

The only response he got was the girl sticking her tongue out at him.

Yusuke sighed and led the girl to his desk where he sat her down in the chair in front of it. "Alright, you can just sit there until you decide you want to go home."

The little twit sniffed and looked away.

Yusuke sighed and rested his chin on his hands. It looked as though he'd be getting home later than usual tonight. If the girl didn't spill within the next half hour, he'd have to call Keiko to let her know. Meanwhile he could get caught up on some of his paper work.

"Hey, Yusuke, what's up?"

Or not.

"Hey Kuwabara," Yusuke said looking up at his old friend. They had, quite by accident, both become police men at the same station. "I'm just waiting for this girl to tell me her name and phone number so I can call her parents and get her home."

Kuwabara looked at the girl with some surprise. Yusuke figured that Kuwabara was thinking about the same thing he had when he'd first seen the girl.

Kuwabara sat in the chair beside her and smiled. "Hey there. My name's Kuwabara."

The girl turned her head and studied Kuwabara with questioning eyes.

Yusuke sighed slightly. It never ceased to amaze him how easily Kuwabara managed to work with young people.

"You know," Kuwabara continued when the girl was silent, "it's getting late. I bet your parents are really worried about you right now."

The girl shook her head causing her curly hair to fly around her face.

Kuwabara tilted his head to the side. "You don't think their worried?"

She sighed and said, "I don't think it's late. It's only a little after four. I mean, sure it gets dark early, but still. And anyways, no I don't think my parents much care."

Ignoring her comment about the time, Kuwabara asked, "Why not?"

"'Cause they're not home," she said staring at the floor now. "I'm staying with my Uncle."

"Oh? Then I bet he's real worried then."

The girl shivered even though it was warm in the station. "I'm not going back," she said, hugging herself. "You can't make me!"

Yusuke frowned. This wasn't simple rebellion. This girl was scared.

"Why don't you want to go back?" Kuwabara asked.

The girl's lips trembled and tears filled her eyes, but she said nothing.

Yusuke leaned forward slightly. "Hey. We want to help you if something's wrong, but we can't if you don't tell us anything."

She looked up at Yusuke, surprise written all over her face. "You care?" she asked. "You actually care about me?" Her gaze went from Yusuke to Kuwabara, and a big smile grew. Yusuke thought that if this had been an anime, and not real life, she have gotten those sparkly eyes.

Yusuke snorted. "Of course we care. Why do you think we're cops? For the pay? It's not that great."

The girl giggled and was about to reply when a shrill alarm cut the air.

Yusuke swore as he jumped out of his seat. "That's the fire alarm. Kuwabara, get the girl out of here!"

Kuwabara grabbed the girls arm and pulled her to her feet. They took off towards the door along with quite a few others while Yusuke headed towards the back of the station where he could now smell smoke coming from.

Yusuke soon found where the fire had started in the brake room. A shamefaced rookie was standing in front of the microwave with a fire extinguisher.

"What happened?" Yusuke asked.

Rubbing the back of his head with embarrassment the rookie said, "I guess I left my food in the microwave to long sir. My food caught on fire. It's alright now though."

Yusuke sighed and shook his head and headed outside to let everyone know things were safe. When he got to Kuwabara he found him looking around with a puzzled look on his face. And the girl was gone.

"What happened to the girl?" Yusuke asked.

Kuwabara shrugged looking embarrassed. "I slipped on a patch of ice and lost my grip on her. When I regained my balance she was gone."

Yusuke frowned. What was with that girl? First she throws snowballs at him, then she runs from him, then she wants his help, and then she disappears. None of it made sense.

Yusuke shook his head with frustration. "The little twit."

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Well, I hope you all enjoyed this. Let me know what you think about it in a review.


	3. Of Flowers and Head Aches

Hello, LittleBlueStrawberry here. Just so you know, this chapter makes references to the prologue. You may or may not figure the reference out. I think it's kind of obvious, but hey, I'm the one who wrote it. Oh, and it also gives a hint as to the next chapter.

I don't own YYH. T.T

I will never own YYH. ToT

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**_Of Flowers and Head Aches_**

Kurama stretched after his last customer for the day left the building. He walked over to his cash register with the intention of counting it down. Mentally he reminded himself to hire a worker to help him with this. Being the only worker in his small flower shop was exhausting.

Kurama glanced at the clock and winced. "Five o'clock already. Mother's going to be upset with me if I'm late again."

Today was Friday, the day he ate dinner with his Mother. He was supposed to be there by five thirty, and it was a twenty minute drive to her house from his store.

"Can't be helped," Kurama said. "I need to finish this closing down, I need to tend to the plants, and then I have to clean up, and I need to swing by the bank and drop off my deposit." Kurama stood with a sigh. "I guess I should call her and let her know."

He reached for the phone when the door opened. Kurama felt a flicker of annoyance. He should have locked the door after his last customer. He really didn't want to bother with anyone right now.

He turned with the intention of telling whoever it was to go home, but before he could say anything, the person was right in front of the register.

"Hiya!"

Kurama blinked at this rather loud greeting as he took in the appearance of the person. It was a girl, around sixteen he'd guess, with short, curly red hair and bright green eyes. She was wearing a white sweater and a green miniskirt. Completely inappropriate for their current weather, and so were the high heels she wore.

"Hello," Kurama said politely, "I'm sorry but I'm afraid,"

"I need your help," the girl informed him without letting him finish. "You see, my friend Patches was in an accident the other day and is laid up with a bad leg. Patches gets really grumpy when Patches can't move, so I thought that I could get Patches flowers and make Patches feel better!"

Kurama stared at the girl. Had she taken one breath through out that speech? "I'm sorry about your friend," he started to say.

"I know it's so sad!" the girl interrupted again. "So you'll help me find the perfect flowers right?"

"I'm closed," Kurama finally managed to say.

"Eh?" asked the girl as though those words were impossible to comprehend.

"I'm closed," Kurama repeated. "I'm not selling anymore flowers today."

The girl seemed to deflate from her happiness. "Oh. I'm sorry to bother you. I just wanted to surprise Patches. That's all. I'll leave now." She started walking away, shoulders slumped.

Kurama felt a twinge of guilt. She was trying to get flowers for a hurt friend. He was already going to be late to dinner; would a few more minutes really hurt? "Well," he said, "I haven't closed down my register yet. I suppose I can sell some to you."

The girl whirled around, the spark back in her eyes. "Really? Oh, thank you so much!"

Kurama smiled. "Not a problem." Okay, so it really was. She didn't need to know that. "Now, what kind of flowers are you looking for?"

The girl looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure. I don't know what Patches favorite flower is, or I'd get that. So, I guess something bright, happy, something that says, 'Get better soon'!"

Kurama nodded. "Tulips might be a good idea then."

The girl shook her head no. "Patches doesn't like tulips."

"Very well. Daisies are a bright flower."

"Those bring back bad memories for Patches."

Kurama raised an eyebrow at the girl. That made him curious.

"Daisy chains," she said with a shrug.

On second thought, Kurama really didn't want to know.

"What about sun flowers?"

Her face brightened. "I love sun flowers! They're my absolute favorite!" Then her face fell. "Oh wait, Patches is allergic to sun flowers."

Kurama was starting to feel annoyed. Maybe he should have just let her go without the flowers. "Why don't you just look around the shop then?" he suggested with a smile that had more friendliness than he really felt in it.

"'Kay," said the girl and she started to walk around the shop.

Kurama closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. He was starting to develop a head ache. A sudden crash made his eyes fly open. The girl was standing beside a smashed pot.

"I'm sorry!" she said her green eyes filling with tears. "I'm so sorry! I'll pay for it I promise!"

Kurama picked up his broom and dustpan and started sweeping up the mess. "Don't worry; I won't make you pay for it."

"A-are you sure?" she asked. "I really would pay for it."

"I'm sure you would, but it's not necessary."

Kurama stood and dumped the broken pieces into the trash can. Then he put the broom and dust pan away.

"Um sir," said the girl hesitantly. "I hate to say this now, but, well, now that I've thought about it, I realized that flowers actually were a bad idea for a present to get Patches. Sorry for wasting your time."

What? She made him stay open late, gave him a head ache, broke a pot, and then wasn't even going to buy anything?  
Kurama forced a smile that he didn't feel at all. "That's all right. Be careful on your way home."

She smiled brightly at him. "Don't worry; I've got someone to walk with."

Kurama locked the door once the girl left. He wanted no more visitors tonight. "Now to finish closing up," Kurama said.

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Review please!


	4. Late Night Walks

I'm back! And I'm sorry this took so long to get out. You see, I went on vacation, and wehen I got back a week later my computer had suddenly gone on the blitz, and my internet absolutely did not work. In fact, it only started working again last night, so I really did get this out as quick as I could.

I do not own YYH. So sad.

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**_Late Night Walk_**

Hiei walked down the deserted street. It was night, and Hiei was bored. This was not actually an unusual occurrence. After quitting being a Spirit Detective, Hiei had just sort of drifted. There wasn't, he had realized, anything for him to do in the Human World. Not anymore anyways. He found himself often wishing he had remained a detective. At least then he'd have something to do.

"Um, mister?"

Hiei turned when he heard a voice behind him. It was some human girl, about sixteen, with short curly red hair and green eyes. She was improperly dressed for the cold weather in a white sweater and short green skirt. And how she could manage the icy sidewalk in those high heels was a mystery to Hiei.

She shifted uncertainly when Hiei didn't say anything in response. "Um, well, you see I'm kind of lost, and I was wondering if you could help me find my way home."

Was this girl stupid? Didn't she realize that a young girl alone at night should never walk up to a random stranger and ask for help? For all she knew, Hiei could be planning to murder her or something. Not that he was. But the girl didn't know that.

"Shouldn't you go to the police or something?"

The girl smiled sheepishly at him. "Well, I would, but I can't find the police station either."

"It's on 1st Street," Hiei told her, and started to walk away.

He stopped and looked back when he felt a tug on his sleeve. The girl had grabbed a hold of it, which annoyed Hiei. "What?" he snapped.

"Well, I don't know where 1st Street is," she said.

1st Street was only six blocks away. This girl, Hiei decided, was truly an idiot.

"Where do you live?" he finally asked.

The perked up with a smile. "On Mango Street."

Hiei stared at the girl. Mango Street was only three blocks away. "Why do your parents allow you to go outside alone?"

The girl looked surprised and confused by his question. "Eh? What does that matter?"

"I just wondered if they realized how utterly stupid you are."

The girl stepped back from him. "That's mean!"

Hiei shrugged. "Your point is?"

Her bottom lip quivered, and Hiei realized that the girl was about to cry. If there was one thing Hiei could not stand, it was a crying girl. "Forget it," Hiei said turning his back on her. "Follow me, and I'll take you home."

"Oh, thank you sir!" the girl said as she followed him.

Hiei didn't bother to respond. He simply wanted to get her home.

"By the way, my name is Lora. What's your's?"

"You shouldn't tell your name to a complete stranger."

"Why not?"

"Because for all you know I could be a deranged murderer."

"And? I mean, if you were a murderer how would not knowing my name stop you from killing me?"

Hiei stopped and glanced back at her. She actually had a point. "Hiei."

"Eh?"

"My name is Hiei."

The girl moved up so she was walking beside him. She flashed him a bright grin. "That's a nice name."

"Hn. We're on your street."

The girl looked around and then pointed a brightly painted house. "That one's mine. Thank you so much for walking me Mr. Hiei."

"Hn." It had filled a few minutes of time, and Hiei had plenty of time to spare right now.

"See you later!" she said waving as she dashed up the drive.

Hiei walked away thinking about the girl's parting words. They were a rather odd choice. Why would the girl say she'd see him again when obviously she never would?

Hiei dismissed the incident as unimportant. She was after all, only some random human girl.

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The red headed girl, now known as Lora, was standing in the front hall of the house. She wrinkled her nose in distaste. No one had been in this house for so long that it was covered with a very thick layer of dust.

She walked quickly with a hand covering her mouth and nose. Now where was that portal supposed to be?

She found it in the living room. Lora smiled. Koenma was going to be happy with her report. The former Spirit Detectives hadn't gone crazy and weren't the ones trying to take over the world. They were all, so far as Lora could tell, still good and honest people.

Of course that left one really important question. Who exactly was trying to take over the world?

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And that's all for now. I've given you a hint at what's going on, and the next chapter will explain everything else. Well, hopefully anyways. Review and tell me what you think!


	5. Meet The Newbies

And here it is, the fifth installment of The Replacements! In this chapter, a lot gets explained. I hope my story will make more sense now.

**Quatreastrophe: **I really do try and catch all of the technical stuff before I post each chapter. Unfortunately, my fine tooth comb has a couple of gaps. I promise to work on it though! And trust me, Lora would never become a Mary Sue. To make her a Mary Sue, I would have to completely destroy her character.

**Pices-Aquarius: **That's actually a pretty funny image. But no, the guys are no where near old. I picture them in their early twenties, twenty five at the most.

**Adamthm: **I'm glad you enjoy it. The enemies are sort of shown in this chapter. Kind of...You get to meet all the new Spirit Detectives though.

**Hakue:** I am glad you're enjoying it, and here is the next update.

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**_Meet The Newbies_**

Yusuke poured himself a cup of coffee, strong and black, just the way he liked it. Coffee was now his favorite drink, and had been for a while. He sat at the table with the newspaper while he listened to Keiko get Hiro up.

When he was halfway through with his coffee Keiko walked in the kitchen holding their two year old son in her arms. Hiro smiled and waved his arms in Yusuke's direction when he saw his father.

With a grin Yusuke took him from Keiko and gave him a hug. "Good morning. Are you feeling happy this morning?"

Hiro giggled and said, "Yes!"

Keiko leaned down and gave Yusuke a kiss on the head. "Good morning, dear. What do you want for breakfast?"

"Something quick, I need to get to the station a bit early today."

Keiko nodded. "All right, you keep Hiro busy and I'll make breakfast."

Yusuke turned his attention back to his son. "So, big boy, what do you want to do while Mama cooks breakfast?"

"Play Lego!" Hiro demanded.

Yusuke groaned. "Again? Can't we play with your trucks instead?"

"Play Lego!" Hiro said with more force.

"All right, we'll play with the Legos. Hey Keiko, who's idea was it to get him Legos anyways?"

"It was your idea Yusuke," Keiko said with a smile as she pulled eggs out of the fridge.

Yusuke frowned. "Oh, right. Well, come on Hiro, let's go play."

Yusuke set Hiro down and the boy ran to the living room where his Legos were currently. Yusuke followed and sat on the floor beside him. "Okay, buddy, what do you want to build?"

"I make house," Hiro said.

A knock on the front door distracted Yusuke from his reply. "Be right back Hiro."

Yusuke stood and walked to the front door. Opening it, he was shocked by who he saw. It was the little twit from the day before.

"Hello, Mr. Yusuke."

"What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?"

"I'm here to deliver a message, and I know where you live 'cause Ashja wrote down your address for me."

Yusuke blinked. "Ashja? Who's that?"

The girl slapped her forehead with her hand. "Of course, you don't know Ashja. Not yet anyways. You'll meet him later today. But I'm here to give you a message. It is…" Here the girl stopped looking thoughtful. "What was the message?"

Yusuke was losing his patience. "Look, I'm kind of busy at the moment, so if you could please just leave me alone."

"I remember now!" she said, ignoring him completely. "You are to meet at Genkai's temple in one hour."

Yusuke froze for a moment. "Says who?"

"Koenma of course. Oh, and if you don't show up at the temple, it means the end of the world as we know it. See you there!" With a wave, the girl started off but Yusuke yanked her back.

"Wait just a minute. What does Koenma want with me? I quit being a Spirit Detective four years ago."

She sighed. "That is going to be explained at Genkia's place. Otherwise I'd have to explain it four times. Now, I have to go get the others, and you need to get on your way."

"I can't go," Yusuke said. "I have to work."

"Nope, you are out sick today," she said cheerfully.

"Okay then, how about this? I'm not going. I don't want to get dragged back into this."

For the first time, the smile dropped from the girl's face. "Fine, you do that. But remember this. If you don't come, your wife and child will die. Not today, probably not this week. But they will be killed in the coming fight if you refuse to help, and it will be your fault. It's your choice. How much do you love them?"

Suddenly the girl's face changed from serious to thoughtful. "I think that's what Koenma said to say if you said you wouldn't come..."

She walked away, and this time Yusuke was too stunned by her words to pull her back. By the time he thought of it, she was already gone.

Yusuke closed the door and went back inside his house. He pulled on his coat as he walked into the kitchen.

"Who was that, Yusuke?" Keiko said as she set Hiro in his chair.

"One of Koenma's agents."

Keiko looked up sharply. "Koenma's agent?"

Yusuke nodded. "I've got to go to Genkai's place."

Keiko stood with a frown. "Yusuke, no, you can't. You promised me you were done with the Spirit World."

Yusuke ran a hand through his hair. "I know I did, Keiko, and I am done with them. But Koenma won't leave me out of this unless I tell him in person. That's all I'm going to do."

Keiko nodded slowly. "Be careful Yusuke. I love you."

Yusuke gave her a quick kiss. "I love you too."

He bent down and gave Hiro a hug. "Daddy has got to go to work now. Be a good boy for Mama, okay?"

Hiro hugged him back. "I be a good boy."

Yusuke ruffled Hiro's black hair. "I'll see you soon." Then he left his house.

Yusuke made it to the steps leading to Genkai's Temple exactly one hour later. Standing at the bottom were Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara.

"Let me guess," Yusuke said. "That red headed twit came and got the rest of you too."

Kurama nodded. "That is what happened with us. She said she works for Koenma."

"Yeah," Kuwabara agreed. "I wouldn't have thought it of a girl like her."

"For once, I agree with the moron," Hiei said. "My impressions of that girl were that she was a complete idiot."

Yusuke said, "Let's just get this over with. The sooner I can tell Koenma I'm not interested in whatever it is he has to say, the better."

"Agreed," Kurama said looking up the stairs.

The four walked up the stairs in silence, none sure of what to expect when they got to the top.

What they saw was Genkai, looking as worn and faded as always, smoking a cigarette on her front porch. "It took you long enough," she said staring down at them. "Come in and meet the newbies."

"I resent that!" a voice called from inside. "We've been doing this for four years now. We're hardly amateurs."

Glancing at each other in surprise, the four followed Genkai into the building, where they saw three older teens sitting in various positions. In the middle of the couch was the red headed girl who they had all met before. She raised a hand in greeting. "Hello. Hiei knows my name already, but since you other three don't, let me introduce myself. I'm Lora."

To her right sat a young man with long black hair that was tipped with silver. His eyes were a dark red color, and he had large black fox ears with silver tips, along with a silver tipped, black fox tail. He wore tight fitting black jeans and a white button up shirt with only half the buttons buttoned. "Hey," he said flashing a smirk. "The name's Ashja."

Yusuke recognized his voice as the one he'd heard earlier.

The third stood a little ways apart. He was a man with light blue hair, and purple eyes. He was tall and lean, and his face hard. His clothes were plain, and sensible. Something in his stance reminded Yusuke of Hiei. The teen sent them a curt nod. "I am Takeda."

Yusuke sent Genkai a puzzled glance. "Okay, Grandma, what's this about?"

Genkai sat down in a chair and took a long drag on her cigarette. "Koenma should be here soon to explain. Meanwhile, I suggest you four make yourselves comfortable."

They obediently sat down, though separated from the three teens.

"Where is Koenma?" Kurama asked. "The four of us have things we need to get to."

"He's late of course," said Ashja. "Or didn't you remember that he likes to make a grand entrance?"

A cloud of smoke filled the room, and an all too familiar voice spoke from within it. "I take offence to that remark Ashja. I'm a very busy man, that's why I always run late. Nothing to do with appearances."

The smoke cleared, and there floated Koenma, in his toddler form. He held up a hand. "Yo. Long time no see, eh guys?"

"Not long enough," Yusuke said. "Why did you call us Koenma?"

"Well," said Koenma, "about to weeks ago, Patches here…Wait a minute, where's Patches?"

Lora raised her hand and waved it in the air like an eager student. "Oh, oh, pick me, pick me, I know!"

Koenma sighed with a longsuffering look. "Yes, Lora, where might Patches be?"

"Patches went to the mall, 'cause Patches said they have the best ice cream so Patches will be late."

Koenma's eye twitched. "Ice cream?! We are discussing the fate of the world and Patches feels the need to go for ice cream?!"

"Relax, you big baby. I'm here. No need to give yourself a heart attack."

Standing in the doorway was a fourth teen. Yusuke guessed him to be about eighteen or nineteen. He had blond hair that fell into his blue eyes and just past his chin. The boy was slightly shorter than average, and his clothes were rather odd. He wore a pair of jeans that were several sizes to large and were held up by two belts. His shirt was also too large for his lean frame. Or at least Yusuke thought the guy was lean. It was hard to tell his body shape. Also, he wore biker boots, and an old dinner jacket that was covered with so many patches it was impossible to tell what the original color was, and on top of his head was a faded newsboy hat.

Patches walked over to the couch and plopped down beside Lora, calmly licking his ice cream cone.

"You blithering idiot! What do you think you're doing?"

"Listening to you yap about nothing," Patches said, his face perfectly straight.

Koenma took a deep breath to calm himself. "Well, since you've decided to grace us with your presence, I will continue this meeting."

"By all means, please do."

Koenma shot Patches a withering glare, which did nothing to Patches, and turned back to the four adults. "As I was saying earlier, about two weeks ago Patches was in Makai investigating a tip we had received that someone was planning to take over the Human World. Patches discovered one of their hiding places. I sent Patches and Ashja in simply to spy. Unfortunately, they were discovered, and sent running, as their enemy was a bit much for those two."

"They ran away?" Hiei said with some disgust.

"Better to run and fight another day than to stay and die a 'heroic' death," Patches said.

"And once you know who we were fighting, I think you'll agree that we did the smart thing," Ashja said.

"And just who were you fighting?" Kurama asked.

"You four," Patches said.

There was a moment of silence that Kuwabara broke. "What?"

"We fought you four," Patches said. "Or at least, we fought someone pretending to be you. They were quite convincing. That's why Koenma had Lora meet you four before he summoned you here. She's good at judging people, and assured us that you four were neither insane, nor evil."

"So someone pretending to be us is trying to take over the world?" Yusuke asked for clarification.

"That's about it," Koenma said. "And unfortunately, they match you four in power fairly well. All of them are to strong for these four. They almost killed Patches and Ashja."

"And could have if they wanted to," Patches cut in. "We didn't really escape them. They let us go, to send a message to Koenma I guess."

Koenma nodded. "Yes. So this is why I've called you. I want you four to come out of retirement, temporarily of course, in order to defeat this new threat."

The guys were silent. Yusuke was certain they'd all felt that a request of this sort was going to be made, and Yusuke had known how he would respond when he'd left his house. He had planned to say no.

But now he wasn't so sure. He hadn't realized what kind of enemy they would be facing then. The thought of letting someone who was pretending to be him get away with taking over the world was appalling.

"I will join you," Hiei said. "I want to get rid of whatever idiot is trying to pass himself off as me."

"I would have to agree with Hiei," Kurama said. "This is a case I wouldn't mind dealing with personally."

Kuwabara nodded in agreement. "No way am I letting some scum do this."

All eyes turned to Yusuke, who sat in silence.

Finally he sighed. "Keiko is going to kill me, but what the heck. I'm in. This is after all, a personal insult."

Koenma smiled slightly, relieved. "I'm glad. As of right now, we have no new information as to the imposters' whereabouts. So for now I'd like the four of you to get to know each other. It'd probably be a good idea for you to all train together so you can get used to each other's styles. That's all for now." With that Koenma disappeared in another cloud of smoke.

"Why does he always do that?" Patches muttered waving away smoke from his face.

"I am curious about one thing," Kurama said. "How is it that you four became Spirit Detectives?"

"Well," Patches said, "I became a Spirit Detective as a trade off. You see, I've always had a large amount of spirit energy. One day on my way home from school, a couple of punks decided to mug me. That's when my spirit energy exploded, and I mean that literally. Those guys barely lived. Anyways, a few days after that, Botan showed up at my house, and made me an offer. Spirit World would provide training for me if I agreed to be a Spirit Detective. I agreed, and here I am."

"As for me," said Lora, "I just wanted to see the Human World. Ever since I was little, that was my dream. I approached Koenma about it, and he said that the only way I would step foot in Human World was if I was a Spirit Detective. I don't think he really expected me to agree, but I did."

There was silence for a moment. "Um, why would you want to see Human World so badly if you're already a human?" Kuwabara asked. "I mean, don't all humans live in Human World?"

Lora looked upset at his remark. "I am so not human! I demand you take that back right now!"

The others started at her. She was quite obviously human.

"Bracelet, Lora," Patches said, before taking another lick of his ice cream.

"Oh," Lora said. She pulled a bracelet off her wrist, and then she was certainly no longer human. Her skin became much tanner, her ears became pointed, her mouth grew fangs, and her hair grew to her waist. Lora was most certainly not human.

"See," she said with a smile. "Not human."

The guys nodded.

"Well," said Ashja, "I was kind of forced into being a Spirit Detective. I broke into the fairy girls' dorm and was caught. I was given a choice. Death by fairy girls, or being a Spirit Detective. I think it's obvious which I chose."

"Why would you break into the fairy girls' dorms?" Kurama asked.

Ashja shrugged. "It was bath time."

They stared for a moment, and Yusuke made a mental note never to let this guy meet Keiko. Ever.

"I simply volunteered for this job," Takeda said.

"You volunteered?" Yusuke asked.

"Think little kid wanting to be a cop," Patches said.

Yusuke thought it was strange. At this point in his life, he couldn't really imagine wanting to be a Spirit Detective.

"So," Genkai said, "are you eight planning to train together like Koenma suggested, or are you going to sit and talk?"

"Actually," Yusuke said, "I need to leave. I've got to get home, so I can speak with Keiko. She's going to want to know what's going on."

"Do you report everything you do to your wife?" Patches asked with a mocking tone.

Yusuke sent him a derisive look. "Maybe when you grow up, boy, you'll understand how these relationships work."

Patches looked suddenly ticked. "Boy?"

"What, you think you're a man already?"

His right eye twitching, Patches said, "I think, idiot, that I am a girl!"

* * *

Haha, Yusuke made a big mistake. Well, I thought it was funny at least. Let me know what all of you think!


End file.
